Swing Factory August 2016

This month's swing factory will have some special late night Blues being played after the swing music dies down. As usual, Swing Factory will be at 1313 Hollis. The doors open at 8:00pm and the beginner lesson starts at 8:30pm. Swing music ends around 11:30, and then the late night blues will begin. The late night Blues will last an hour or three depending on interest.

Waterfront Surprise Swing Social Saturday (Impromptu Swing Dance Social)

Waterfront dancing is back for an impromptu weekend social dance!

Meet us at the Gazebo (just down Morris Street) this Saturday July 30 for some dancing by the water - great timing with the Busker's Festival! The event will occur 6:30pm to 9:30pm. This event will last one hour longer than our weekly socials. If there is rain, we will relocate to the Toothy Moose on Argyle Street.

The event is free, but we highly encourage members, friends, and more to help donate payment for floor rentals. Anything helps - DSDS thanks you!

Stay tuned!

Waterfront Social July 12 Cancelled

Due to weather, the waterfront social this week is cancelled. Due to the Halifax Jazz Festival, we don't have access to the Toothy Moose. No social this week! Please try and make it to some of the Jazz Festival events, and to our Swing OUT event Friday July 15.

Swing OUT Swing Factory and LGBT+ Community Dance

July in Halifax hosts the annual Pride Festival, and this year to celebrate we are inviting the LBGT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and all other sexual and gender orientations) to join us for a fun night of dancing. There will still be the usual hour long beginner lesson from 8:30pm-9:30pm followed by a social dance after. This will be a safe space for everyone to try out their dancing. Name tags will be provided for everyone with space for your dancing role(s) and preferred pronouns. Rainbow and other pride-ful attire is encourage! Cover is $5. Location is DanceSpace by Dance Nova Scotia on 1531 Grafton St, Halifax, NS B3J 2B9.

We will also be have a box for food donations for Feed NS. It is a charity which attends to food insecurity in Nova Scotia, and which is currently critically low on food. They are looking for canned meat, canned vegetables, cereal,  pasta, pasta sauce, and soups.

Toothy Moose Tuesday Social Time Change

Hi all! This week we will be having our weekly social at the Toothy Moose, and with a time change from before. From this week and future weeks, the Toothy Moose socials will occur 7:00pm until 9:00pm.

Halifax Jazz Festival 2016

This year the Halifax Jazz festival will host three of our local big bands: Big Valley Swing Orchestra, Chebucto Big Band, and Tuesday Night Big Band. They will be playing at 12 noon on Saturday July 16 and 12 noon on Sunday July 17 respectively. Be sure to come down and dance! They are during the Free Daytime Concerts times, and the most up-to-date calendar can be found here. A link to our facebook event with all the info can be found here. Also, Bella Blue will be playing Thursday July 14 4:00pm - 5:00pm in the main tent, and they are a jazz, blues, and R&B group featuring three singers

Canada Day Pancake Breakfast and Swing Social

We've been invited to dance alongside the pancake breakfast at Alderney Landing Events Plaza for Canada Day! The pancakes begin at 8:00am and go until 9:30am, and the dancing goes from 8:45am to 9:45 am.

100 in 1 Day Halifax Swing Dancing

100In1Day is a global festival of citizen engagement returning to Halifax for its third year on June 4, 2016. 100+ urban interventions will be happening all around Halifax.

The Dalhousie and King's Swing Dance Society is teaming up with Pier 21 to host a FREE PUBLIC DANCE LESSON with a one hour social dance to practice afterwards! Join us to learn about swing dancing, hear some jazz music, socialize, and have some fun! No partner or experience required!

Find us in the Hall of Tribute just before noon at Pier 21!

More details below:

100in1Day Halifax:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1777803185781847/
https://www.100in1day.ca/

Dalhousie Swing Dance Society:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dalswing/?fref=ts
Dalswing.ca

Pier 21:
https://www.pier21.ca/

Frankie Manning Birthday Flash Mob

Hi all! We'll be celebrating Frankie Manning's 102nd birthday tomorrow (Thursday, May 26) at 6:00pm at the entrance to the Halifax Public Gardens on the corner of Spring Garden Rd. and South Park St. We'll be doing a flash mob Shim Sham! Make sure to arrive early and look inconspicuous!

Swing Beginner Summer Classes Venue

Hi everyone! We've changed venues to accommodate the huge beginner Swing class size this summer. Our summer venue will be St. Andrews Church on the corner of Coburg and Robie (near where Spring Garden turns into Coburg). The venue closes at 9:00pm, so the class time will be shifted to start at 7:00pm and go until 8:15pm, and the social practice time will extend until 9:00pm. As always, please wear clean non-marking shoes and try to arrive early so that class proceeds smoothly.

Waterfront Dancing

(For full effect, please play this in the background.)

Back again

and about time too;

we're Waterfront dancing,

and so can you.

Swing down to lower Morris Street.

Pass NSP, and hear the funky beat.

It goes from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm,

keeping your day bright, to harness sunlight.

The schedule is biweekly, starting May 17, and

Switching up with Toothy Moose each week.

The cover is FREE, but donations are accepted

to pay for fun floor mat rental as expected.

Volunteers are needed to take the floors over.

1313 Hollis keeps them under cover.

The key to 1313 lies with an executive. On Sunday

If rainy weather is expected, a cancellation message will be executed.

The social will be relocated to the Toothy Moose place

from 7 to 9 pm if the boardwalk is replaced.

Volunteer here and get free entrance in that case.

Veteran Mini Swing Lesson

Hello dancers! Kelsey Holt is organizing a swing dance mini-lesson in the Veteran's Memorial Building and is looking for some helpers! It will be a really fun time for everyone involved! Please message Kelsey if you are interested. The event will begin Friday June 3 at 2:00pm.

Toothy Moose Social Venue

Hi all! We would like to announce a new social venue for swing dancing. The Moothy Toose (Toothy Moose) will open their doors for us on Tuesday evenings from 7:00pm to 9:00pm beginning April 26. We will have the dance floor and there will be a bartender on hand. The entry cover is $5 for the evening. Volunteers get in free! Sign up to volunteer here. They will be offering a $4 drink special for Coors Light or Molson Canadian cans. Join our facebook group or sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications.

Lindy Hop Beginner Lessons Summer 2016

Note: The first beginner lesson will now be on May 18th instead of 11th as stated previously.

The Beginner lessons will run on Wednesdays from May 18th until July 13th in the big room at St. Andrew's Church on the corner of Coburg and Robie near where Coburg turns into Spring Garden, and not Happy Soul Dance Studio. The lessons go from 7:00pm to 8:15pm, and then there will be 45 minutes of social dance practice which wraps up at 9:00pm. The instructors will be teaching an inventory of moves and concepts as they see fit. Six-count basic footwork, moves, and stylings will be taught from May 11th until June 8th; and eight-count footwork, Lindy Circles, and Swing Outs will be taught from June 15th until July 20th. The first class on May 18 is free to try out! Classes will cost $25 for students and $35 for community members. You can register here.

Chebucto Big Band Charity Dance May 9

The Chebucto Big Band is an 18 piece big band who will be playing a set at the Atlantica Hotel on May 9, 2016 as part of the Harbour of Hope project to help raise funds for a refugee family entering Canada. Tickets and details can be found here. This is not an event hosted by DSDS, but it is a great cause and although regular ticket prices are $25, for DSDS members the entry price is $10! For the online code see the newsletter.

Swing Feat Debut on May 13

The Dalhousie Swing Dance Society is proud to have a social dance featuring Swing Feat East Coast Swing Band. It consists of is a 12 piece band, with music of the 30s and 40s, catering specifically to dancers!

Creation of Swing Feat East Coast Big Band arose out of the desire to form an alignment between the fine musical talents of east coast jazz musicians and the exuberant and energetic swing dancers in the area. Key to Swing Feat’s goals is to perform the wonderful repertoire of the 30’s and 40’s the way the music was composed to be played – essentially, FOR DANCERS!

Recognizing that live jazz and dance have an important symbiotic relationship in sustaining each other, Halifax bandleader, Krisanne Crowell, has long awaited for the opportunity to bring the best musicians and music to an enthusiastic and active audience – namely, the Dal Swing Dance Society.

While Krisanne plays piano and sings classic gems with the group, she has assembled an all-star cast of jazz musicians ready to set the stage for ecstatic swing dance events:
Danny Martin (Salsa Piquant) brings his unmistakable lead trombone sound to the band. Joining him in the trombone section is Eric Landry, (The Mellowtones)

Wayne Baker (Sounds of Motown) leads the trumpet section as one of the most experienced big band players in town. High note ace trumpeter is Rick Waychesko, (Tower of Power, Blood Sweat and Tears), with Ryan Cameron completing the section.

Omar Bergsson brings his beautiful alto sound to lead the saxphones, with Alexis Schurman on 2nd alto. Tenor sax sensation, Martin Davidson and in demand baritone player, Dawn Hatfield fill the sax section

Crucially, providing the back beat for Swing Feat’s 12-piece band is veteran drummer, John Alphonse, popularized as King of Swing in Halifax during the extended era of the John Alphonse Big Band. Casey Jones hones his upright bass chops to lay down the rhythm.

With this illustrious group of musicians playing great music to an eager swing dance crowd, Swing Feat is sure to create a sensation at any dance event.

Swing Feat will be playing at the First Baptist Church on May 13 from 7 pm until 10:30 pm. Swing Feat is comprised of 13 local musicians and including 3 singers.

Early bird Tickets will be $15 for students and $20 for community members. At the door tickets will be $20 for students and $25 for community members. A link to pre-purchase tickets is available through Paypal here. Here's a link to the facebook event.

Blues Lessons Summer 2016

Appreciating the blues: Blues dance classes that will help all-levels of blues dancers run 8 weeks this summer, from 26 May to 14 July: Thursday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 at 1313 Hollis Street. We will work on reinforcing basic techniques, reviewing vintage blues genres as we also introduce new concepts, techniques, and moves to interest and challenge dancers at all levels. Learn more about blues music as you work on improving your own blues dancing. Join Jill and Ömercan on Thursday nights 6:30 to 8:30 at (with some social dance time included). The prices for the set of all 8 classes will be $25 for students and $35 for community members, and can can registered the full set online through Paypal here. Also, feel free to drop-in to the classes which individually are priced at $5 for students and $7 for community members.

Whether you’re a beginner trying to figure out what blues dancing is about, or you’ve been dancing for a while but recognize that you could improve your technique, Summertime Blues is an all-levels class with something for you. We’ll begin with exercises to develop technique in the first half of the class, have an interlude of social dancing, and then expand your repertoire with a move that draws on the techniques we’ve developed. Each class is named after a blues song that reveals the musical theme for the week.
 
26 May – “24-hour blues” [Celebrating Canadian blues artists] Refreshing the basic blues pulse, posture, connection, and aesthetic.
2 June – “Blues we like” [Celebrating BB King] Getting cosy and connected with close embrace.
9 June – “Walking blues” [Celebrating Big Mama Thornton] Slow dragging around the dance floor.
16 June – “Blues my naughty sweetie gives me” [Celebrating jazz blues] Ballroomin’ blues.  
23 June – “Feelin’ good” [Celebrating Junior’s blues] Dancing to fast and funky blues.
30 June – “Somebody was watching” [Celebrating gospel blues] Call and response patterns.
7 July – “Rock me” [Celebrating Muddy Waters]  - Vintage blues dances that engage the hips.
14 July – “Crossroads” [Celebrating Delta blues] – Tuning into the music.